Our studio designed the world’s first holographic catwalk for a virtual fashion line, all showcased on a real model, during Amsterdam Fashion week in July 2016. With this technology, we mimicked what Google’s Magic Leap will make us experience in the upcoming years. As for the future of fashion, we believe that people buy, throw, and mistreat their clothing because we do not feel connected with the inanimate objects around us. That is the reason why, with this catwalk experience, we made people emphasise with their clothing the way they do with their friends, where we visualised the spirit of the clothing.

Through animism, we gave life to the fashion line of Amber Slooten by adding facial characteristics like mouths and eyes and interactions between the dress and the model. You can find more information about this project on our interview in The Creators Project, and watch the making off of the hologram here.

The Desearch Repartement is a group of “desearchers” (as they put it). They use a satirical form of expression to break down into pieces the commodification and camouflaging of human injustices and oppression in our contemporary world. In their work they’re highlighting in various ways the structures/peoples that are holding today’s sociopolitical realities in place. They created full-body suits which are providing anti-recognition to the person who’s wearing it while also displaying the powerful structures/people they are criticising.

The Desearch Repartment initiates exhibitions and workshops around their work, they also produce digital images & videos based on a movement they created, the Essential Happiness Possibility. You can check out their work here, and their blog here.

Following Sir Richard Branson’s son Sam and Isabella Branson’s engagement party in South Africa as a gold lion and lioness, the happy couple has chosen the ‘Enchanted Forest’ theme for their wedding party. Prangsta, a costumier in London has dressed the golden list of guests like Prince Harry as a Ginger Fox, Princess Eugenie as a fairy, Sir Richard Branson as Robin Hood and Prangsta stalwart Rob da Bank as a bumblebee. No wonder Hello Magazinedeclared on their front cover, the ‘Fancy Dress Party of the Year’!

For the April issue of our column at Dazed & Confused, we put the emerging Jewish symbolism in hip hop and the Rick Ross issue under scope. The question still remains: Did the star of David get rap’s biggest rapper shot?

In the recent months, we have all been entertained with shivers down our spines by the worst kept secret in the rap world, the dispute between Rick Ross and the Chicago-based gang the Gangster Disciples. On October 29th, GD released a YouTube threat for Rick Ross, concerning the Star of David on his mixtape. After that, on 28th January 2013, Mr. Ross crashed his Rolls Royce after another vehicle fired shots at him as he drove home from his birthday party at the famed Miami nightclub LIV. As expected, this shooting alluded to Hebrew-fanatic gang Gangster Disciples, flaunting their sense of humour by shooting him on his birthday. On the other hand, according to reports allegedly “dozens” of rounds were fired at Ross’s car in the drive-by which made 50 Cent speculate that Rick Ross staged his own shooting. Meanwhile, we were bewildered by this Jewish swag which has been the centre of this gangster gossip.

Hip hop and occult visual imagery is like caviar and vodka: a classic. Especially the speculative masonic Illuminati looks of our favourite Givenchy boys, Jay-Z & Mr. West. Writing an opinion about a subject which is a combination of Jewish symbolism, street gangs, African-Americans and hip hop, while not having a background in any of them and getting away with it is not easy, but the question remains… Why on earth would a street gang associate itself with Judaism? And why is the Star of David the go-to rap symbol of choice?

Folk Nation is an alliance of street gangs based in Chicago and Gangster Disciples is its strongest sub-gang – also one of the most violent gangs in the USA. It is estimated to have over 600,000 members worldwide. The gang uses the Star of David, a pitchfork, 360, GD (their initials) and number 74 (the places of their initials G and D in the alphabet) as their symbol and they are known for carrying a black flag (bandana). Allegedly, the Star of David in the GD pays respect to David ‘King David’ Barksdale who was the original leader of multiple Folk Nation gangs among Gangster Disciples. The letters on the points of the star stand for Love, Life, Loyalty, Understanding, Knowledge and Wisdom.

The video that Gangster Disciples uploaded on Youtube showing their feelings towards Rick Ross about the Star of David on the cover of his mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah, has a history. It has been said that Rick Ross disrespected GD for dropping the name of their leader Larry Hoover in the song “B.M.F.” as a street swag booster which made him millions, as well as for using the Star of David (which is the gang’s major symbol) on the cover of his mixtape, The Black Bar Mitzvah.

The gangster gossip surrounding Rick Ross’ marketing strategies stretches to world-renowned cocaine king-pin Freeway Ricky Ross. First named ‘Teflon’, the Miami MC Rick Ross is currently being sued by Freeway Ricky Ross for using his name.

After the shooting in January, the ex-correction officer Rick Ross is currently being protected by actual police force. It can’t be fun to be Rick Ross right now.

HD make up gone wrong due to the light of the photography flash.
Guest post by Simone S. Niquille, who is a student of ours at Sandberg Institute Amsterdam. She is writing her graduation thesis on FaceValue and the text below is an extract from it.

In 2009 during the premiere for the movie ‘Nine’ in New York, photos of Nicole Kidman appeared: “What’s all the powder in her face?”. Most photos show Kidman covered in white powder on her nose and under her eyes, the exact spots foundation is applied to. Other photos of the night seem to show a normal face however. HD make-up reflects light differently than regular make up, making it possible to apply less product while still retaining a concealing function, perfect functionality for HD production. The flash of the photo cameras did not comply with the HD make-up however. The make-up product applied did not adhere to the techno norms of Kidman’s situation. The make-up was applied outside of its context and malfunctioned, resulting in a transparent make-up strategy reveal.

Many of America’s prisons boast visiting rooms that are festooned with bizarre wall art, so that friends and family members of incarcerated people can take pictures of their loved ones on backdrops other than the depressing, institutional grays and whites of the correctional facility.

Artist and photographer Alyse Emdur has compiled six years worth of such portraits for her new book, Prison Landscapes. Inspired by a childhood photograph of herself posing with her incarcerated brother, Emdur contacted 300 prisoners and asked if they’d like to provide family photos and get involved in the project.

“My act as a photographer is not from behind the lens but as a collector of images,” Emdur told Wired. “I see myself as a mediator. These are people who have had no relationship with the outside world so while Prison Landscapes might be a very small gesture, the people who chose to be involved in this project want to be seen; they have their own agency. They want the outside world to know they aren’t the criminals they are stereotyped as.”

Emdur also sees her work as a critique of our country’s ever-growing prison system. “Clearly prisoners are more than their crime,” she says. “I’m not saying they’re not criminals; they are in prison because they were convicted and proven guilty. I am not going around that but it is important to look at these images and consider the rise of the prison industrial complex. The portraits reveal a system and how individuals fit within that system.”

This story is taken from Wired and text is taken from Animal New York.

The scarf wants to expose the benefits of the alternatives for real fur in fashion by showing the beauty of the unnatural and the artifice. In order to symbolize the endless possibilities of artificial fur, we made the entire panthera family parade on a fashionable scarf. Blood drips of the anti fur campaigns are replaced by stains of rainbow colors ornamenting the panthers’ fur. The print displays an optical illusion of rounds that mimic a cut on the surface of the scarf. Utterly fake fur strains are peaking out of these graphical rounds; proud to be fake.

Bont voor Dieren (Fur for Animals) is a Dutch animal protection organization dedicated to the rights and protection of all fur-bearing animals. They campaign against the production and use of fur by raising public awareness on issues such as animal cruelty and welfare. Bont door Dieren supports Fur Free, an initiative by Jojanneke van der Veer and Femke Dekker. Fur Free organizes Fur Free shows, Fur Free exhibitions, publish Fur Free magazines and write Fur Free manifesto’s.

The Fur Free Scarf is part of the exhibition PROTEST!. Fur Free invited print- and graphic designers to come up with their very own iconic Fur Free protest poster. Participating designers are: Alex Kaséta, And Beyond, Antoine Peters, Bas Kosters, Bart de Baets, Experimental Jetset, Glamcult Studio, Hansje van Halem, Karen van de Kraats, Nicole Martens, Nieuw Jurk and Our Polite Society. The exhibition is on from January 21st till January 26th, all designs will be on view at De Slang, one of Amsterdam’s oldest squats on Spuistraat 199.